


No Filter

by wallflow3r



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Banter, Break Up, Comfort, Cute, Daryl Dixon is a Sweetheart, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, POV Daryl Dixon, Secret Crush, Swearing, Two Shot, bethyl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 11:52:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13410702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallflow3r/pseuds/wallflow3r
Summary: Beth is upset so Daryl goes over to talk to her. He says something he doesn't mean to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where this came from. I wrote it in a couple of hours. It's my first ever one shot and it's my first ever fic without smut! Anyway, I hope you like it. Comments are l i f e. Enjoy!

When Daryl steps out into the yard for a smoke his eyes are immediately drawn to the cascade of golden curls on the lawn. Beth Greene is sitting on the grass and her hair looks like spun gold as it catches the last of the sunlight. It's mesmerising. It's also odd. This time of day Beth is usually sitting around a table, holding hands with her family and praying or some shit. Singing to the cell block maybe with that voice of hers that somehow makes everything feel better than it is. Instead she's out here. Alone. Hunched over, head hanging low between her shoulders. Shoulders that are _shaking._

As he watches her shoulder blades tremble, Daryl's fingers clench without him realising, crushing the filter of his cigarette almost flat between them.   
Then all of a sudden, and without his permission, his feet are crossing the yard, closing the distance between them. He takes a hard pull on what's left of his cigarette, smoking it down to the filter before flicking it away as he comes to a halt a few yards to her left. 

He rocks awkwardly on his feet as he waits for her to notice him. The fuck is he gonna do now? Her knees are drawn up to her chin and she's hugging them, face hidden behind her forearms. Her hair is even brighter up close. It's come loose from her usual ponytail to run down her back like a waterfall. A waterfall made of gold that sparkles and shimmers, reflecting the light in a way that makes it look like its glowing. He's not sure he's ever seen anything so beautiful in his whole sorry life and he can't help staring, enraptured by each strand and every wave.

Gold is replaced with blue as she turns her head and meets his gaze. 

Her eyes look huge against her flushed face as they shine back at him. She wipes her hand across her face hurriedly, looking embarrassed and turning away to avoid his gaze. She's crying. He's never seen her cry before. She's usually smiling. He doesn't like it. It makes something inside him ache.

"Y'alright?" He asks. The voice that comes out is low and gentle. It's a stupid question. He knows that as soon as he says it. She's clearly not alright. But he doesn't know what else to say. 

"S'nothin'," She says quietly. Her voice is thick and there's a quiver to it like she’s trying not to cry again. 

Daryl frowns. "Don't look like nothin'"

He's starting to feel uncomfortable hovering over her. He thinks that he should probably just leave her to it. Whatever it is, she doesn’t want to talk about it, at least not to him of all people. He’s about to turn and go when he hears her sigh. It’s a sad sound and it tugs at something in his chest. He thinks that he really should go but he also knows that he can’t. Instead, he plants himself on the grass in front of her, tucking one leg under him and leaning his arm across the knee of the other. This seems to surprise them both. 

Beth looks up, her eyes are still shining but they're no longer pooling and he can see that because her face isn't buried in her arms anymore. That’s an improvement. She doesn’t look at him like she wants him to leave so he doesn’t. He starts ripping up the grass in front of him just to have something to do with his hands. She watches him do it. After a moment he lifts his eyes and meets her gaze. Holds it. Waits.

"Zach cheated on me," She says finally. The quiver is gone, it’s her normal voice but it sounds small, defeated. "It's stupid," She adds, pulling a face and looking embarrassed again.

Daryl feels his eyes go wide without meaning them to as he stares back at her dumbfounded. His hands cease their onslaught on the grass. He's the embodiment of shocked and it must show because a curious expression takes over her face.

"What?" She asks, sounding herself again and narrowing her eyes at him a little. 

What can he say? That what she just told him is the single most ridiculous thing he has ever heard in his whole damn life? That he thought Zach was smart but he must have shit for brains if he had a girl like Beth Greene and let her go? That there are no girls ‘like Beth Greene’? That she's perfect and she was too fucking good for him anyway? That she's probably too good for any man as it happens? That she's a fucking goddess with her hair made of gold and her magic voice that he’s pretty sure can cast spells? 

He can't say any of that. 

"Want me to rough him up?"

Beth stares at him for a moment and then huffs a laugh. 

"I'm not kiddin'. Jus' say the word."

Beth snorts, her face breaking into a grin. Her eyes are still shining but they’re soft and warm as she looks back at him.

"Nah, s'alright."

She smiles, and its small but its real because there isn’t a shred of artifice in Beth Greene. What you see is what you get. That's what  he likes most about her. That's one of the many, many things that make her too good for the likes of Zach. 

"He's a fuckin’ _dumbass_ ," He spits, scowling, his accent coming out thick, like it always does when he's angry. 

Beth’s eyes widen. She looks a little taken aback, and then maybe just a little bit pleased. "Yeah?"

"Hell yeah. I wouldn't kick you out of bed."

Beth’s cheeks turn pink as she stares back at him and it's almost hypnotic watching the colour flooding into her face. Her mouth is twitching like she's suppressing a smirk. 

Daryl looks away when he realises what he just said. No fucking filter. He feels his cheeks getting warm as he rips up more grass, with maybe a little added force this time. He feels a tightness run from his gut up to his chest. Now it's weird. Why’s it gotta be weird? Because he made it weird. He frowns down at the ground like it’s the grasses fault. 

Beth scrapes a hand across her face, wiping her eyes again. He hears her take a deep breath, like she’s building herself back up. Then she turns to him and she smiles. Its small but it reaches her eyes.

"Thanks, Daryl." She says, and she sounds genuinely grateful.

He looks up through his hair and gives a small nod. Doesn’t really trust himself to speak again. 

Sitting up, she glances towards the prison before looking back at him. "I better go give Judith her bottle."

He nods again, lips pressed in a tight line.

There’s a pause and then Beth leans forward and closes the space between them. He forces himself not to flinch when she kisses his cheek. Her lips feel impossibly soft against his rough skin. He inhales just at the moment her hair brushes against his face and his senses are flooded as he gets a lungful of her scent. Beth smells clean, like soap, faintly sweet and also of something else he can't place but which is somehow very distinctly _Beth_. He holds the breath in for longer than is necessary, savouring that little piece of her. 

When she pulls back she catches his eyes with hers. She doesn't look sad anymore, she looks bright and the look she's giving him now pulses with a low heat. The look she’s giving him is _smouldering_ and it sets his body aflame. His breath catches in his throat and suddenly his blood is roaring in his veins. Maybe she really can cast spells.

"I'll be seein’ you," She says, thick with promise as she rises to her feet. Then she turns, starts walking back to the prison with her head held high and he watches her because he can't look away. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently you people don't accept one-shots, huh?
> 
> I am writing the next chapter of The Trunk, I swear, but I haven't slept and this just fell out.

The next time Daryl sees Beth she's coming out of the cell blocks just as he's going in and they meet on the steps. She's wearing an apron which means she's off to help with dinner. The girl never stops. If she's not babysitting then she's cooking, and if she's not cooking then she's washing. The list goes on. She's not afraid of hard work and she's not afraid to get her hands dirty either. That's another reason why he likes Beth Greene. Another two reasons. But who’s counting? He thinks she looks impossibly cute wearing a faded oversized prison apron. But when does she not?

He’s pleased to notice that there’s a smile on her face today. When she sees him she smiles even wider and it makes his chest ache.  
  
"You look happy," he rumbles, the corner of his mouth tugging up into an almost smile of his own. Daryl doesn’t smile often, he can't make himself smile when a social situation calls for it. Not that he’s ever given a damn for social graces, as such, but even if he did. His face flat out refuses to obey him. He can't _stop_ himself smiling either. Though that’s never been much of a problem. Until now. Right now he can feel a smile threatening to expose just how happy he is to see Beth Greene smiling again.   
  
She huffs a laugh and shrugs a shoulder at him. She looks as though she's about to speak when her eyes drift to focus on something over his shoulder and she freezes. Her smile falters.  
  
When Daryl’s head whips around to follow her line of sight he finds Zach walking towards them. As soon as Zach meets Daryl’s icy glare he stops dead in his tracks. Without bothering to hide it, he quickly turns on his heel and high tails it in the opposite direction.   
  
"Did you say somethin’ to him?"  
  
Daryl turns his attention back to Beth, and finds her giving him with an accusatory look.  
  
He shrugs and looks away, making a noise in the back of his throat. She said not to rough him up, she didn’t say not to set him straight on a few things.  
  
" _Daryl,_ " She exclaims and his eyes fly up to hers like a moth to a flame. She’s trying to sound exasperated but her eyes are dancing with amusement. He likes it when she says his name.   
  
"Mighta done," He confesses.  

He might have told Zach that he is out of his fucking mind and that if he so much as looks at Beth Greene the wrong way then Daryl’s gonna shove his foot so far up his ass he is gonna choke on it.  
  
She rolls her eyes but he can tell she doesn’t really mind, and he feels a small smile budding on his lips.  
  
"Don't matter. I'm done anyhow,” Beth tells him, crossing her arms over her chest. She seems mildly irritated but he doesn’t think it's with him.   
  
"Is that right?" He asks, narrowing his eyes as he studies her face. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail but a few wisps of hair have escaped and are hovering over her cheek. He wants so badly to reach out and tuck them behind her ear. Maybe cup her cheek, tilt her face up to his and press his lips against hers.    
  
"Yeah. I'm done with boys," she says matter-of-factly, dragging his mind back to the present and derailing his train of thought. Sending that particular train of thought plummeting off a cliff.  
  
Daryl frowns. He can't control his face.   
  
"Damn, what a waste," He says. He can't control his mouth any better.  
  
He watches Beth's eyes light up. For a moment, they flare a little brighter than usual and he feels his stomach somersault.   
  
"Didn't say I was done with men," she quips, smiling wide and warm. "Just boys," Her voice is playful, smile twisting into a smirk and her eyes are dancing again.  
  
There's that ache in his chest again. He loves it when she gets smart with him. And she is, she's so damn smart. She doesn’t miss a thing and she's not afraid to speak her mind. But she doesn't feel the need to prove herself to anyone either. She just is. Another reason on a long list of reasons of why he likes Beth Greene.  
  
“Gonna have men fallin’ over their damn selves to get to you if you go broadcastin’ that,” He says and he can feel himself smiling. Not a smirk, a real smile because he likes this. He likes it when she gets fresh with him. He likes talking to her. It's easy and that’s not usually the case for Daryl.  
  
Beth laughs and ducks her head like he's said something unexpected and funny.  
  
"You wanna give me some names?" She asks, her voice catching as more laughter bubbles up. There’s an expression on her face that he doesn’t understand. She looks _incredulous._  
  
Daryl stares and what begins as a glance at her turns into something more lingering. She's not fishing for a compliment. She's not being modest or self-deprecating. She honest to God doesn't see it. She doesn't see that she's _beautiful_. Not just because she's hot as hell, which she is, but because she's smart and she's funny and she's kind and she's lovely in about every way that he can think of.  
  
She doesn't see that. But she does see something in his face because she stops laughing. The smile falls from her face, and lands on the floor with a thud.   
  
She stares right back at him and it's like she can see into his soul. Her eyes scan his and he’s not convinced she can’t read minds. He can practically feel himself being read. Then something dawns on her face. She’s connecting the dots _._ Very little gets past Beth Greene.

He swallows hard, but his throat is suddenly so dry he can't swallow and he just feels his throat ache.   
  
Beth Greene might not be able to see herself for what she is but she can see how he's looking at her. She can see a bit of how he sees her. It's written all over his disobedient face. There’s a low simmering heat in his gaze and he knows she can feel it. He wants her. Not just sometimes but _all the time._ There’s no denying it. But it’s not just that. There’s also warmth in his chest when he looks at her. When he’s around her he finds himself feeling like it’s not so bad to be alive. He likes that feeling. He’s grateful for it. He doesn’t expect anything from her. That’s more than enough for him.

He just wants to see her smile because when she does it feels like a little piece of sunshine. The world is cold and Beth Greene is bright and warm. He just likes being near her, near enough to feel a little of that warmth. That’s all.

He’s not sure what she sees in his face exactly but he’s pretty sure she gets the gist.  
  
" _Oh_ " She whispers.  



End file.
